Safety razor



Oct. 2, 1934. J, E. CONl IOLLY V 1,975,535

SAFETY RAZOR I v Filed March 17, 19 52 2 Sheets-Shet 1 (ZZZ @Z/Zflj, Z 10 as,

Oct. 2, 1934. E, CQNNQLLY 1,975,535

SAFETY RAZOR Filed March 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 flazioz,

?atented ct. 2, 1934 STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR James E. Connolly, Baltimore, Md. Application March 1'7, 1932, Serial No. 592,554 H M-aims. (cram-12) My invention relates to a safety razor.

It is aimed to provide novel means whereby a blade of the type disclosed in my pending application Serial No. 585,590, filed January 8, 1932,

that is a blade having the attaching slot open at one end, may be connected in a stable and secure manner so that it cannot accidentally slip relatively to the guard and clamping plate.

Another important object is to provide such a construction wherein the blade will be retained by the razor even when the guard and clamping plate are separated, but so as to be removed by slight effort, to the end that a wet razor blade may be more readily handled with safety.

A further object is to provide a means whereby parallelism of the blade with respect to the guard and clamping plate is assured during the attachment of the blade.

A still further aim is to provide a novel means whereby the extent of opening of the guard and clamping plateis limited.

In addition, an object is to provide novel means facilitating the gripping '(if the blade for application or removal.

Various additional objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the description following taken in connection with accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments.

In said drawings:-

Figure l is a side elevation of a safety razor constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail section, with the parts open, taken on the plane of line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an inverted plan view of the clamping plate;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of said clamping m plate;

' Figure 8 is a plan view of the guard plate;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a plan view of the razor blade;

Figure 9 is a longitudinal section view corresponding to Figure 2 but taken through a modified form;

Figure 10 is a detail sectional view taken on the plane of line iii-10 of'Figure 9, with the parts separated;

Figure 11 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 11-1l of Figure 9;

Figure 12 is a longitudinal section view through a modified form of razor blade 0! the general type used in Figures 9, 10 and 11;

' guard tines at 11.

Figure 13 is a view through a modified form taken on the same plane as Figure 11;

Figure 14 is a cross sectional view of the blade used in the form of Figure 13;

Figure 15 is a vertical section view through a 60 further modified form and Figure 16 is a sectional view taken on the line 1616 of Figure 15.

Referring specifically to the drawings and first to the form of Figures 1 to 8, 10 designates a & transversely curved guard plate having usual Said plate 10 has a central elongated slot or cut-out portion 12 and a plurality of lugs 13. I

I employ a razor blade, for instance, of the form shown at 14 and detailed in Figure 8. This blade is of very thin metal having opposed cutting edges 15, a central attaching slot 16, open at one end, series of apertures 17 and a manipulating slot 18. The apertures 17 enable the blade" to flex and the corner ones are adapted to register with and receive the lugs 13 when the blade is clamped in place, so that the blade will be held against slippage. Said aperture 17 also function as a means by which the blade may be held during the process of manufacture.

A transversely curved clamping plate or head holds the blade 14 in place, with the cutting edges of the blade regulated as to angularity according to the degree of clamping. This clamping plate is shown at 19 and has a central rib or ridge 20 on its concave side which extends through the slot 16 of the blade and thence into the slot 12. A screw stud or shank 21 extends from the rib 20 and is threaded in a nut 22 carried by a handle 23. It will be clear that the turning of the handle 23 will tighten or loosen the parts. Guide pins studs or pegs 24 extending at a linear distance from the stud 21 project from said rib 20 and through slot 12 and have screws 25 adjustably threaded into sockets 26 thereof. The heads of such screws 25 will serve to limit the opening or relative movement of the guard plate and clamping plate as shown in Figure 3. Detachment of the clamping plate from the handle may also be prevented by the use of a pin or key 27 applied to the shank 21 before the handle 23 is fastened to the nut 22.

Particular attention is called to the fact that both ends of-the clamping plate incline or curve 7 downwardly and inwardly at 28 and lead to one side wall of the adjacent slot 18. The blade 14 may be inserted or removed from the razor from either end and such inclines 28 guide the finger nail of a finger oi the user directly into such slot 18 to enable the blade to be thus engaged incidental to removal. It will be realized that the blade is applied by lateral movement from either end due to the fact that one end of slot 16 is open, the blade thus being in accordance with the disclosure of my previously mentioned pending application. The separation permitted for the guard plate and clamping plate is of course suflicient for the washing thereof so as to keep the razor sanitary.

In the modified form of Figures 9, 10 and 11,

g the guard plate is shown at 30 and the clamping plate is shown at 31, its ends being inclined at 32 similar to the inclination 28 so that if desired, the blade 14 may be used with this form. However, a blade 32' is preferred which has a finger engaging or gripping element 33 thereon. A screw shank 34 depends from the plate 31 and is threaded to a nut 35 having bearing engagement in a cut away portion 36 of guard plate 30 through which the shank loosely extends. Nut 35.is carried by the handle 38.

Said guard plate 30 has two openings 39 therethrough accommodating tapered lugs or pins 40 depending from the clamping plate and below the latter having screws 41 threaded in sockets 42 thereof. Screws 41 function like the screws 25 of the previous form.

With especial reference to the blade 32', it has a central elongated attaching slot 43 open at one end like in my said pending application. The side walls of such slot 43, instead of being truly parallel, are irregular in that one or both of them at one or more locations may have a slight protuberance or projection as at 44 to form stops or frictionally engage the lugs 40 in the clamped position of the blade so that the blade cannot be pulled out of the razor. However, such protuberances 44 are of a size which will permit the blade to be pulled out upon unscrewing the handle 38 and separating the guard plate and clamping plate, since while the largest diameter of the pins 40 is greater than the narrowest portions of the slot 43, smaller diameters of the pins 40 are less than such narrowest portions. At the same time, said protuberances 44 may not readily slide over the pins 40 at the smaller diameters of the latter but be retained thereon to avoid slipping, especially when wet or incidental to separation of the plates. This is brought about by having the projection of the protuberances slightly greater than the said smaller diameters, say to the extent of three thousandths of an inch more or less so that they will be retained by friction but will spread or yield upon the blade being pulled.

In Figure 12 a modified form of the blade shown in Figure 11 is illustrated to show that the finger engaging or gripping element thereof may be corrugated or roughened as at 44 to enable a more eflicient gripping thereof.

With respect to Figures 13 and 14, a modified form of the blade is used. The attaching slot is designated 43', the razor being of the form of Figures 9 to 11 and bearing the same reference characters. Instead of the projections 44, one or more lugs or tongues 45 are provided on one or both sides of the slot 43', the blade being slotted as at 45 to add resiliency to the lugs. Such lugs extend into the slot 43' and coact with the pins 40 exactly like the protuberances 44. In addition, said lugs or tongues 45, due .to the resiliency of the blade, are normally in and urged to positions projecting on opposite sides of the blade as shown in Figure 14. As a result, when the blade is clamped in place, the tongues are in the same plane as the blade but when the plates are separated, such tongues by engagement with the plates serve to urge the blade away from the same and thus to separate it therefrom.

With reference to the form of Figures 15 and 16, the principles of the form of Figures 9 to 11 are primarily followed although the screws 41 are omitted. Blade 50 may be of either of the described forms'and is held between a guard plate 51 and a clamping plate 52, the latter having tapered pins 53 extending through the main slot of the blade 50 and openings 54 of the guard plate 51. A screw shank 55 depends from the plate 52 loosely through the plate 51 and thence is threaded into a suitable handle 56. Handle 56 is Journaled in a cut away portion 57 of the plate 51 and has an outwardly extending annular flange 58. Said flange 58 is overlapped by a ring 59 to retain it in place and to form a bearing which will permit rotation of the handle but prevent sliding movement thereof. Said retaining ring 59 is secured to plate 51 by a plurality of rivets 60, countersunk into the guard plate 51 at the blade-engaging surface thereof.

The razor blades used are preferably sold to the public in a sterilized condition. To this end after manufacture of a blade, it is sterilized and one or a plurality of sterilized blades is wrapped in a sterilized paper or containing means and maintained in a sterile condition until it reaches the user. Infection is thus guarded against.

Various changes may be resorted to provided they fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A safety razor having a guard, a blade provided with an open end slot, a clamping plate, an elongated longitudinally extending rib on said plate adapted to engage the said slot of the blade, the guard having a slot receiving the rib, means located intermediate the ends of the rib and operable to clamp the guard and plate together, pins extending from the rib on opposite sides of said means through said slot of the blade and into the guard, and a detachable element on one of said pins normally spaced from and adapted to abut the guard to limit relative movement of the guard and plate, the construction enabling the blade to be inserted from either end of the razor.

2. A safety razor having a guard, a blade provided with an open end slot, a clamping plate, an elongated longitudinally extending rib integral with said plate adapted to engage the said slot of the blade, the guard having a cutout portion receiving the rib, a screw integral with said rib disposed adjacent the center thereof, a handle threaded to said screw operable to clamp the guard and plate together, pins integral with the rib on opposite sides of said screw extending through said slot of the blade and into the guard, and an element on one of said pins normally spaced from and adapted to abut the guard to limit relative movement of the guard and plate, the construction enabling the blade to be inserted from either end of the ,razor.

3. A safety razor having a guard member, a blade provided with an elongated open end slot, a clamping plate member, means operable to clamp said members and blade together having a part passing through said slot, one of said 150 into said slot between said part and one of the pins necessitating forcible removal of the blade,

said projection due to its position functioning.

regardless of the end of the razor from which it is inserted.

4. A safety razor having a guard member, a clamping plate member, a blade therebetween having an open end slot, a pin on one of the members passing through said slot, means whereby said members and blade may be clamped together, a lug on the blade projecting into said slot in the clamped condition of the parts and coacting with the pin to prevent withdrawal, said lug being resilient and inherently urged out of the general plane of the blade so that it will move out of such plane when not in use and thereby retract the free end of the lug in a direction away from the slot. 1 I

5. A safety razor having a guard plate, a clamping plate coacting with the guard plate, lugs on one of said plates, means operable to clamp the plates together, a blade laterally applicable between said plates having openings to receive the said lugs, said lugs being located out of the plane of insertion and removal of the blade and the blade-engaging surfaces of the plates being curved and substantially parallel, whereby the blade will automatically engage and disengage the lugs through fiexure of the blade incident to clamping and releasing of the blade.

the latter part.

7. A safety razor blade having spaced apart, fixed edges defining an elongated attaching slot open at one end, lugs on the blade on opposite sides of the slot extending beyond said edges into the slot when in the plane of the blade for cooperation with means of the razor in the slot to hold the blade on said means, said lugs being resilient and deflected out of the plane of the blade on opposite sides thereof when not in use to contact with adjacent razor parts to separate the blade from the latter parts.

8. A safety razor having a guard member, a,v

blade provided with an elongated open end slot, a clamping plate member, means operable to clamp said members and blade together having a part passing through said slot, one of said members having pins disposed equidistantly from and on opposite sides of said part and extending into the other member. said slot being of a size to simultaneously receive said pins and said part so that the blade may be applied by sliding movement from either end of the razor, and a projection on the blade extending slightly into said slot and engaging one of the pins necessitating forcible removal of the blade, said projection due to the location of the pins functioning regardless of the end of the razor from which the blade is inserted.

9. In a safety razor, in combination with a guard, clamping plate and a blade therebetween, said blade having a slot, a projection on the blade extending into said slot, a tapered pin on the plate extending through a portion of said slot, said guard having an opening receiving said pin of a diameter substantially the same as the greatest diameter of the pin, said pin in the closed condition of the razor engaging said projection to prevent withdrawal of the blade, and means to operate the guard and plate relatively to clamp the blade and also to enable a smaller portion of said pin to be disposed substantially in the plane of the blade so that the blade may be withdrawn.

10. In a safety razor, in combination with a clamping plate, guard and a blade therebetween having a slot open at one end thereof, a projection on the plate extending through the slot having a large portion and a small portion, said slot being of irregular form whereby it has a portion of smaller transverse area than. the large portion of y the projection, and means tooperate the guard and plate relatively to clamp the plate and also to enable the small portion of the projection to be disposed in the plane of the blade so that the blade may be moved.

11. A safety razor having a guard member, a blade provided with an elongated open end slot, a clamping plate member, means operable to clamp the guard, plate and blade rigidly together having a screw stud on one of the members passing through said slot of the blade and through the other member, a handle threaded on said screw stud adapted to bear directly against said guard, one of said members having pins on opposite sides 5 of said means passing through said slot and into the other member, said slot being of a size to simultaneously receive said pins and said screw stud so that the blade may be applied by sliding movement and withoutfdanger of turning from 20 either end of the razor, and means on one of the pins normally spaced from and adapted to abut the member through which it passes to prevent disengagement of the pins and last mentioned member independently of the handle.

12. A razor comprising a transversely curved head and guard, the head having a substantially central ridge on the concave side thereof extending partway of the length of the head, a stud extending from the ridge of the head through the guard and being provided with external screw threads, a handle having one end threadably engaging said stud, said handle being adapted to tighten said head against said guard, said guard having a substantially central cut out portion to 11 fit the ridge of the head, a second stud extending at a linear distance from said first stud from the ridge of the head through the guard, said second stud being threaded, a screw having a head, said screw being threadably and adjustably mounted M0 on said second stud, said head providing a shoulder like flange to prevent complete separation of the head from the guard.

JAMES E. CONNOLLY. 

